Picks and Pans Review: If I Were Your Woman

Mills's voice, that spectacular combination of gospel, R&B and Broadway intonations, has never sounded better. She sure has come up with better material before, though (she has also come up with worse, to look on the only slightly brighter side). One consideration may be that there are nine separate producers—one named La La and one named Davy D—listed for the eight tracks on the album. Somebody seems to have lost track of the continuity, since the LP's hit single, the engaging I Feel Good All Over, is followed by an all-too-similar tune in pace and melody, If I Were Your Woman. That track would pale in comparison to Gladys Knight's original 1971 version of the song in any case, but here it seems almost an alternate take of I Feel Good. At least those two songs have some substance to start with, which isn't the case with the rest of the album. Too much of the material is not romantic enough to compensate for not being very imaginative or vice versa. (MCA)